A/N: This is just a little draft that I have written for the epilogue to one of my stories that is a work in progress. Thought I'd put it up for people to read and tell me what they think of it, as this could be the final ending to the whole story, so please read and review!
Epilogue
The rain was a torrent that ravaged like a beast reawakened some damn forsaken hole that was never, ever meant to be awakened. It splashed down upon the pair now in big, angry drops, completely wetting them even through the fibres of their Jedi robes. But in no way was it enough to calm the hissing of their shafts of laser energy that were pointed towards one another menacingly, challenging the other to dare a footstep into the void that had come to separate them.
One was lost, and the other had come to find them again.
Despite the fact that they were surrounded by deep jungle that was normally full of life, the silence that hung upon the clearing that they had cleared was more unnatural than the man made settlements that had tried to tame this wild planet. This was Haruun Kal, and yet in no way did it seem to match the true animal ferocity within the gaze of the lost one as the pair continued to circle, both intent upon their purpose but neither having the courage to put it into action. There was a great reason for that, one that was supposed to keep a strong bond between them, but instead one that had opened the gulf that was between them now.
They were family, not born of the same blood but from the same family tree that had had its branches cursed by the shadow of evil from its beginning. However, neither of them could have guessed that this family member would have been the one to turn, the one to lose the "true path of light".
Becoming bloodied from the previous fights through the jungle had not dimmed the brimming radiance within the soul of the seeker, just merely strengthened his cause. He had come to save the one that he cared for dearly, and failure was not an option.
"I don't know what's been going on, Mird'ika," he called gently across the clearing, his breathing causing his words to become slurred as he fought for air. "But I know that you're better than this. Please, come back to us. Let us help."
By 'us', he had been referring to himself and the rest of their rag-tag family that had remained glued together through centuries and decades of hardship that they had had to face, and was not likely to fall apart any time soon. Except, there had always been an impending feeling that kept niggling at the back of his mind, growing stronger and stronger each day until this very moment: here, right now. Was this the pinnacle moment that would rip apart his delicate kin once and for all?
The lost one was clearly feeling this way, for the words that she hissed in reply were matching to the pitiful expression that adorned her face. "Come back? What do I have to come back to, Kortos? Pain? Suffering?" She laughed bitterly, and took him back a little. "No chance. With what I have achieved now - with what I can achieve in the future I can stop the pain and suffering from occurring again. Why can't you see this as a good thing?"
"That's just it, Mird. It's not good. It's evil. It's dark. It's not the way of the Force that we have been taught." His eyes tracked her form, noting the damage that not only he but the jungle undergrowth had caused to her. She could heal physically, but what about mentally? "You know that. Deep down, you know that what you are doing is wrong."
"Now that would depend on how you define wrong." Her sapphire blue glare met his and locked him in a death grip. "Was it wrong for you to abandon the Jedi Order to go off and support your home world as it is being singled out and attacked? Was it wrong for Lao'buir to track down every last Dark Jedi in the galaxy so that he could find the single being who killed his mother?"
Kortos narrowed his eyes and replied in a tone that was colder than he had fully intended it to be, "The Force was guiding me down that path. I just obliged. And I do not think those actions were wrong, perhaps a little selfish, but not wrong in the terms of what you have been doing." The next words choked in his throat; however he forced himself to speak them. "You nearly killed your own son!"
Her eyes contracted painfully, but the response that she concocted was dripping with venom. "Don't you dare bring Cat'ra into this! He was in the way, and I had to move him out of it."
He spread his arms wide out to his sides, removing the threatening barrier that his emerald lightsaber blade had been forming in front of him. "Please, please tell me that you are not so lost that you would murder your own son in seek of vengeance? Please..."
Mirdala's gaze became steely hard, her sapphire eyes swirling with plumes of black, ash streaked darkness. "If the Force wills it so that justice can be served, then I will do what I must."
A tear formed in the corner of his eye, but luckily the pelting rain disguised the sign of weakness. "Then the cousin that I have loved dearly is truly lost." He took his lightsaber hilt in a two handed grip, staring at her across spitting blade as he dropped himself into a Soresu battle stance. "I'm sorry that it has come to this. I will do what the Force wills to ensure that your darkness cannot infect the rest of the galaxy."
"It is you that will not leave this planet alive, Kort'ika. I have foreseen this event." There was no passion, no love, no camaraderie in her eyes, just a sheen of cold judgement. "Let us finish this, to see whose destiny will come to an end."
Her amber blade was raised high to her left shoulder as she stepped forwards, her feet shoulder length apart until she was within his striking range, then battered hard against his upper torso, arms and head. His emerald blade met hers synchronously, batting harmlessly aside any of the attacks that could have easily decapitated him, whilst allowing others to slip past his guard. And yet throughout all of this, he allowed his pain to show visibly in the Force, to let her see the family love that he still had for her and that there were other ways to end this.
She, however, did the complete opposite and shut herself down from him. So shocked was he by this mental blocking that he did not anticipate the Force shove that she sent thundering towards him, catching him in the center of the chest and sending him flying backwards into the trunk of a nearby tree. His vision darkened for several, precious seconds, and it was only the Force that took over and allowed him to duck out of the way as her amber blade slashed into the tree and caused it to erupt into flames.
He rolled backwards and called his lightsaber to press into his palm, igniting it barely in time to block another wild stab that would have rid him of the need for a heart. That would not have made much difference to him right now, seeing as she had torn what remained of it from out of his chest. He was about to rise to his feet, but was caught by a heavily booted foot into the side of his head, and once again he was seeing stars as he flopped back down onto the sodden ground. A curse formed on his lips as his lightsaber hilt went singing from his gloved hands into the grip of his lost cousin, and could do nothing as she advanced towards him.
Staring up into her eyes for what he knew was the final time; he was filled with a sudden sense of clarity. His own, green blade punctured the right hand side of his chest at what resembled terminal velocity, and melted away the Corellian Jedi medallion that he kept with him as a keepsake.
Concentrating harder than he had ever done in his life, he forced a lop sided smile onto his face as the blade winked out, then whispered almost breathlessly, "Take this gift from me...Mird'ika...and use...it well."
Delving into the light side of the Force, he worked his way deep into her mind and flashed the brightest burst of light side energy that he could muster into the dark shadow that clouded her brain.
He was unsure if this had all worked, but his last image was of her shocked expression before she went running and bashing her way through the jungle undergrowth, and everything went dark...
As the vision ended, Jedi Knight Aurae Solaris Darklighter knew that her whole world had come crashing down around her.
"Kortos..." She whispered painfully yet passionately as her eyes became more firmly squeezed shut.
That was when she felt the softest, feathered caress of a kiss against her forehead, then cheek, then lips in turn. A chill ran down her spine as she could feel the warm touch of breath against the side of her neck as something was whispered in her ear,
"Lost. She's not lost."
But then the pressure was gone, almost as quick as it had started.
She opened her eyes and looked up into the expressionless face of an EM-DEE medical droid that confirmed her senses in a melodious voice, "I'm sorry, Master Solaris, but we could do nothing for Master Darklighter. He has just past on."
Her right hand balled up into a fist as she was over come by a wave of anger, but that quickly convulsed into a burst of grief as she buried her face into her hands and wept, the only comfort being the mournful warbles of the droid beside her, R2-11-TDE, as he gripped the sleeve of her jacket with his pincer arm.